"" Writer's Wanderings: World Cruise--Cartegena And Through The Canal

Monday, January 27, 2025

World Cruise--Cartegena And Through The Canal


 Cartagena, Colombia, is a place we have visited almost half a dozen times. On the previous visit, we discovered that there was an aviary right at the port that we could walk through and enjoy the collection of birds they have. Since we have done the old city several times and have no desire to go into the main city, we opted to explore the aviary again.

We were a little concerned when we heard that there was now a charge and someone mentioned $70. While it’s beautiful, we didn’t want to spend that kind of money for it. As it often turns out, you need to search out the facts for yourself and when we arrived at the port we planned to do just that.


This morning was the first one where the ship felt stable enough to safely play some pickleball but the temperature had climbed to the mid 80s with the humidity rising as well. Half the pickleball court was shaded and there was only the two of us so we stayed in the shade and just smacked the ball back and forth for a while. It was still a pretty good workout but we only lasted about 45 minutes.

After stowing our paddles in our stateroom, we grabbed our water bottles and hats and headed out for the aviary. Did I mention there were a total of four large ships in port? The walk to the aviary is not far and there was a gentle breeze blowing which helped with the heat. We arrived to find that it was still free albeit wanting some donations since the aviary is a shelter for injured birds, or so they say.



The crowd was quite large but once we got past the place where many had stopped to get a tropical drink or get into the gift shop, it wasn’t quite so bad. They have added a monkey who was being held by one lady tourist as we entered one section. He seemed quite content until it took too long to get the picture I guess and he bit her. A little later we would see a sloth that the attendant was draping over willing tourists. No thanks. At least the sloth didn’t look dangerous and I think by the time he would have opened his mouth to bite, you would have seen what might be coming and avoided it.

Our time in Cartegena was a bit short. We had to be back on board at one and were supposed to be on our way shortly after. For some reason we didn’t leave until 2 but we would still make it in time for our scheduled passage through the Panama Canal.


We awoke the next morning early to be up in time to watch the beginning of our trip through the new locks of Panama. This would be our fifth trip through the canal but the first through the new locks. Queen Anne is much too large to pass through the old locks. As a matter of fact, the Promenade Deck was closed for the day. Sometime late evening or through the night, the crew had lowered the railings around the deck and moved the lifeboats in a bit. They overhang the side of the ship by about twelve inches or so and to prevent scraping against the sides of the locks, they were pulled in a lirrle as were some lights that also extend out past the side of the ship.




As we neared the first lock at the Agua Clara locks, tugboats met us. These are special tugs (if I heard correctly, they came from Spain) that are high powered for maneuvering the large ships to keep them centered in the lock. Some guide ropes appeared to be used as well as we could see attendants on shore tossing ropes over to the ship.


The ship uses its own power to move from lock to lock once the water level is reached and the gates opened. There were three levels going into Lake Gatun and three levels at the Pacific side when we exited. It took much longer (about 2 ½ to 3 hours at each end) than I remember taking when we went through the old locks. Not quite as much fun for me. The “mules” that are used at the old locks are more interesting to watch and there are two locks side by side so you can also watch another ship going up or down in the lock.


I’m not going to go into all the explanation of how the new locks work. I posted that after our last trip when we did an excursion to see them when they were first finished. If you are interested in a bit more information click on my link here to the earlier post.


Bridge of Americas

Once through the locks, it is about a five hour cruise through Lake Gatun and “the big ditch” to get to the Cocoli locks on the Pacific side. The weather was beautiful and it was so peaceful and restful to sit on the balcony and enjoy the fresh air and lush  green scenery. 

Once we reached the Cocoli locks, the sun was beginning its late afternoon descent and as we exited to pass under the Bridge of the Americas, we could see the skyline of Panama City. Always impressive and even more so as the sun was beginning to set. The multi colored structure is a museum. I think that's new since our last visit. I don't remember it. 

By the way, for those who are as curious as my husband, the cost for the ship to go through the canal was $415,000. Bob is still wondering if they paid cash or use a credit card.

I haven’t said much about life on the ship but we are enjoying wonderful meals, have gotten to know tablemates to one side from Britain and the other side from Scotland. Have shared some hilarious stories. Two gala nights (one red/gold themed and another just formal). Bob is happy to get more use out of his tux. Lectures have been very interesting and I’ll post more about that next time. For now, it’s on to Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.

 

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